Greg Siskind on Immigration Law and Policy

KEEP DREAMING...

Once again, the Senate has punted on taking a vote on the DREAM Act. The plan was to attach it to the Department of Defense budget bill. Opponents fell in to two camps - those against the DREAM Act and those against including non-budget items on budget bills. If a single Senator raises an objection as to the germaneness of the amendment, then 60 votes must be secured to overcome the objection. The votes to overcome the germaneness objection were apparently not in place.

However, the news is not all that grim. Apparently, many of those objecting to attaching the DREAM Act to the budget bill fell in to the second camp I mentioned and actually would support DREAM if it came up on a standalone bill. And Senator Reid seemed to acknowledge this when he stated that there will be a vote on DREAM by itself before the Senate adjourns. The votes so far look like they could very well be there to pass the bill.

Comments

USC
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09-27-2007 12:13 PM

"If a single Senator raises an objection as to the germaneness of the amendment............... Apparently, many of those objecting to attaching the DREAM Act to the budget bill fell in to the second camp I mentioned"

Then at the very least they would be hypocrites, for the DREAM act would make it easier for the military to meet their recruitment targets. That certainly is a DOD matter!!

Another voice
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09-27-2007 12:52 PM

I remember that REAL ID ACT was attached to a defense spending bill. I think this is a tactic to do it as a stand alone and then kill it. I do not trust these guys after CIR.

legal
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09-27-2007 01:39 PM

Btw, what happened to Immigration Voice and their efforts to remove the backlogs? Is there anyone taking action on this one in Congress?

USC
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09-27-2007 02:03 PM

"Btw, what happened to Immigration Voice and their efforts to remove the backlogs? Is there anyone taking action on this one in Congress?"

Legal, Let me start by commending the 1,000 folks who showed up for the rally. They deserve a huge round of applause. Someone who went above and beyond the call of duty and made this his own cause & fight would be Greg Siskind. He deserves everyones Thanks & Gratitude.

In July alone there were 300,000 applications filed. There are many more in the backlog. It is disappointing that out of these 300,000 only 1,000 bothered to show up. I had hoped that more would turn up and thus Cornyn would be pressurized to pursue the amendment that he proposed on July 12. It is disppointing that the apathy of the 300,000 let this timely opportunity slip through their finger. The amendment would have eliminated the backlog by re-capturing visas and more than doubling the EB quota to 290,000. The text of the amendment is given below (link not viable for more than 30 minutes):

"SA 2143. Mr. CORNYN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 1585, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2008 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activiites of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. __. EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISAS.

(a) Recapture of Unused Employment-Based Immigrant Visas.--Section 106(d) of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-313; 8 U.S.C. 1153 note) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1)--

(A) by inserting ``1996, 1997,'' after ``available in fiscal year'';

(B) by striking ``be available'' and all that follows and inserting the following: ``be available only to--

``(A) employment-based immigrants under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 203(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b));

``(B) the family members accompanying or following to join such employment-based immigrants under section 203(d) of such Act; and

``(C) those immigrant workers who had petitions approved based on Schedule A under section 656.5 of title 20, Code of Federal Regulations, as promulgated by the Secretary of Labor.''; and

(2) in paragraph (2)--

(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``1996, 1997, and'' after ``available in fiscal years''; and

(B) in subparagraph (B), by amending clause (ii) to read as follows:

``(ii) DISTRIBUTION OF VISAS.--The total number of visas made available under paragraph (1) from unused visas from fiscal years 1996 and 1997 shall be distributed equally between--

``(I) immigrant workers with approved petitions based on Schedule A (as described in paragraph (1)(C)); and

``(II) employment-based immigrants under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 203(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.''.

``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to a nonimmigrant who has an approved petition for an immigrant visa under paragraph (1) or (2) of section 203(b) if at least 180 days have elapsed since the filing an application for adjustment of status under subsection (a), (k) or (i) of section 245 that has not been denied. The Secretary of Homeland may extend the stay of such an alien in 1-year increments until a final decision is made on the alien's application for adjustment of status.''.

``(d) Worldwide Level of Employment-Based Immigrants.--The worldwide level of employment-based immigrants under this subsection for a fiscal year is equal to the sum of--

``(1) 290,000; and

``(2) the difference between--

``(A) the maximum number of visas authorized to be issued under this subsection during the previous fiscal year; and

``(B) the number of such visas issued during the previous fiscal year.''.

(d) Retaining Immigrants Who Have Been Educated in the United States.--Section 201(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``(F) Aliens who have earned a master's or higher degree from an accredited United States university.

``(G) Aliens who--

[Page: S9162] GPO's PDF ``(i) have earned a master's or higher degree in science, technology, engineering, or math; and

``(ii) have been working in the United States in a field related to such degree in a nonimmigrant status during the 3-year period preceding their application for an immigrant visa under paragraph (1) or (2) of section 203(b).

``(H) Aliens who--

``(i) are described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 203(b)(1); or

``(ii) have received a national interest waiver under section 203(b)(2)(B).''."

drew from immigrants list
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09-27-2007 02:08 PM

FAIR sent out an email to all its subscribers today saying that they would continue to kill "amnesties" like they killed this one, including DREAM Act, AgJobs & SKIL Bill (not kidding). Shows that we really are all in this together. They'll say that the death of the DREAM Act means Americans don't want any positive reform measures for legal or illegal immigrants.

Sessions had the most out of touch quote on this, saying "People, I think, want to let the immigration thing cool off a bit before we jump back in."

indianGuy
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09-27-2007 02:30 PM

I think immigration activists need to wake up on so-called leaders of the immigration friendly democratic party. It's people like Dick Durbin I am talking about. Leaders of the hispanic community who champion legal status for the undocumented workers should realize that they are just getting played by people like Dick Durbin. These Durbin people have been championing undocumented workers' causes for years and what have we achieved? NOTHING! Absolutely nothing! You know why? Because people like Durbin, Reid et al know that those bills will never pass. That's why they insist on comprehensive immigration reform with ridiculous features such as granting citizenship to people who just crossed the Arizona border yesterday. That's why they brought the CIR before so that the conservative base is steered up enough so that all subsequent bills fail and Durbin can walk up to you and say that he tried at least.

Get this! The the Durbins of this world don't want legal status for undocumented workers because they want to come to the hispanic community year after year with the same issue and ask for votes. They want to marginalize hispanics like they have done to the blacks. A part of the electorate they will never care about but can count on every election. My message to the hispanic community : don't let yourself be played like this.

While describing the Dream Act, Durbin talks about how much potential the children of undocumented workers have and how they will contribute to America. Yet, he seems to oppose H-1B visas for people who already have the skills to contribute to America. Yet, he is hell-bent on making life difficult for them. Why? Well, there are many more hispanic votes than Indians or Chinese. Now you know why. Wake up and think smart!

Peace

indianGuy
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09-27-2007 02:32 PM

I think immigration activists need to wake up on so-called leaders of the immigration friendly democratic party. It's people like Dick Durbin I am talking about. Leaders of the hispanic community who champion legal status for the undocumented workers should realize that they are just getting played by people like Dick Durbin. These Durbin people have been championing undocumented workers' causes for years and what have we achieved? NOTHING! Absolutely nothing! You know why? Because people like Durbin, Reid et al know that those bills will never pass. That's why they insist on comprehensive immigration reform with ridiculous features such as granting citizenship to people who just crossed the Arizona border yesterday. That's why they brought the CIR before so that the conservative base is steered up enough so that all subsequent bills fail and Durbin can walk up to you and say that he tried at least.

Get this! The the Durbins of this world don't want legal status for undocumented workers because they want to come to the hispanic community year after year with the same issue and ask for votes. They want to marginalize hispanics like they have done to the blacks. A part of the electorate they will never care about but can count on every election. My message to the hispanic community : don't let yourself be played like this.

While describing the Dream Act, Durbin talks about how much potential the children of undocumented workers have and how they will contribute to America. Yet, he seems to oppose H-1B visas for people who already have the skills to contribute to America. Yet, he is hell-bent on making life difficult for them. Why? Well, there are many more hispanic votes than Indians or Chinese. Now you know why. Wake up and think smart!

Peace

TX
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09-27-2007 03:33 PM

Greg, you give too much credit to these senators. I don't believe that any of the senators who refused to support this bill now will support it as a stand alone. What is even more difficult to believe is that Reid fell for it. What could be the reasoning for supporting this bill as a stand alone and not when it is attached to the defense bill? Its seems that it would have been easier to pass immigration bills through a republican senate then a democrat senate. Republicans do not want to let democrats win any points with Hispanics and democrats don't seem to have enough guts to challenge them. I am now begining to understand why congress has such low approval ratings.

TX
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09-27-2007 03:48 PM

Oh, and I love the quote from Hutchison "putting extraneous things in this bill isn't helpful." Thanks Ms. Hutchison, where were you when the REAL I.D was attached to the appropriations bill?

Speaking of disasters, how come there is no mention of repealing this stupid REAL I.D bill?

Dream Act guy
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09-27-2007 06:34 PM

Im back and yes its sort of disappointing news that the Dream Act was delayed. My contact said we were very close to passage of DREAM and yes, there were a few Senators who supports DREAM but didn't want it in the defense bill. Reid promised a vote before they go to break (Nov. 16th)so he knows how close Durbin got.

October should be about Agjobs and H1b(I think someone here mentioned its the Skil Act) and I hope both pass.

Oh dont listen to Indianaguy, he's trying to split the immigrant community with the ol divide and conquer strategy.

USC
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09-27-2007 11:59 PM

This link shows the rate of change of various stats. The rate of change on the illegal population is on left at the bottom:

http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf

legal
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09-28-2007 07:29 AM

USC, so nothing's happening with Cornyn's amendment or any other for that matter?

Lou Dobbs
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09-28-2007 08:26 AM

I have a dream ( Remember MLK ?)...

To round up all legals ,illegals and deport them all

Yours lovingly
Lou Dobbs

grouchy
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09-28-2007 09:33 AM

Republicans should think first the welfare of these innocent youngsters of society who are victims of their parents' ignorance, negligence and misguidance from not following or complying with the rules. They should not be blamed with this mess.
I hope those people in congress and also those ordinary citizens like LOU DOBBS who oppose this DREAM ACT should humble themselves, throw- in their unselfish support for the sake of humanity to consider this "life-saving act/ DREAM ACT" rather than keeping those future youngsters of the nation just dreaming on it.

grouchy
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09-28-2007 10:02 AM

Why anyone in Bush's Administration can't recommend to the President to carry out the possbility to have LOU DOBBS as his perfect Border Security Chief? Maybe by a chance of giving this post to him, I believe, even the rats or any kinds of insects coming from other places that crawl down through the border will surely be trapped by him.
That's how he can be perfectly effective as a Chief Border Security.

grouchy
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09-28-2007 01:48 PM

I can't imagine there's somebody here who's really insensitive and strongly repellent to the feelings of others. Why does somebody out there not even thinking of his fellow american citizen's feelings who love, care and admire their foreign wives/husbands so dearly?
Millions of pure americans now even have children with these foreign people, living passionately and have good relationships with their families.
How cruel to say this person's dream that one day,loves to see these millions of immigrants be singled out from america, which a country they learned to love.
In my personal opinion, if you would ask the american people intelligently who they want to boot out from their country between his bigotry,Lou Dobbs against the most loved immigrants, there's no doubt they would choose the former.

Anyway, NASA has reported recently to the public their very first plan to put a man to planet MARS on 2017. I hope they would launch their said plans as soon as possible bec american people have already found a completely qualified candidate to first fly to planet MARS.